Building toys.



M. EBBRT.

BUILDING ToYs.

ENTOH.'

QL@ A CDLUMBIA PIIANOURAPH C0.. WASHxNa'roN. D. c.

M. BBERT.

BUILDING TOYS.

APPLICATION FILED JULYao, 191s.

Patented June 16, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES.'

'M @MM/- M. EBBRT. BUILDING TOYS APPLIGATION FILED JULY 30, 1913.

Patented June 16,1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INYENTOR.'

WITNESSES.'

UNITED STATES MARIE EBERT,

OF SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

BUILDING TOYS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed July 30,

Patented une 16, 1914. 1913. serial No. 781,936.

To all w/wm t may concern.'

Be it known that I MARIE EBERT, a subject of the Emperor o Germany, and a resident of South Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain Improvements in Building Toys, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of this invention are to provide a toy b-uilding unit which can be readily and easily formed by folding a piece of paper and be adapted to a multiplicity of uses; to secure such a unit which will retain its foldings and shape without the use of an adhesive or other means; to secure such a unit which after being folded can assume a plurality of forms adapted to diiferent uses; to provide in such a building unit a plurality in different ways in building; to thus secure a unit which can be used in many different ways to build a wide variety of structures, and to secure other advantages and results as may be brought out in the following description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals of reference indicate the same parts throughout the several views, Figure l represents a sheet of paper from which my improved 'building unit has been folded, the dotted lines thereon indicating the creases formed in such folding; Figs. 2 to 6 inclusive are views of a sheet or blank at different stages of the folding; Fig. is a perspective view of the unit in the form of a box, open side up; Fig. 8 is a perspective view of said box, open side down; Figs. 9 to 16 inclusive are illustra tions of a fewof the uses to which my building unit may be put; Fig. 17 is a representation of a blank similar to Fig. 1 showing certain additional lines or creases of folding made in forming a basket; Figs. 18 and 19 show the same at dierent stages of folding; Fig. 2O shows the same in flat form, similar to Fig. 5; Fig. 21 represents another blank creased still differentv from Figs. f

1 and 17; in forming a frame; Fig. 22 shows the same being folded; Fig. 23 shows the same with the folds complete; Fig. 24 is a blank which has been folded into the form of a seat or step and spread out again; Fig. 25 shows the lsame folded into such a seat; Fig. 26 shows it. folded into a step, and Fig. 27 shows a plurality of such steps joined to form a flight of stairs.

of pockets which can be utilized In the specific embodiment of the invention illustrated in said drawings, and.re ferring more especially to Figs. l to 16 inclusive, the reference num-eral 1 indicates a piece of paper or other suitable blank from which my building unit is to be folded, said blank having any desired dimensions or proportions adapted to form the finished unit of the size and shape desired. As an illustra` tion I have shown in said figures a rectangular blank referred to as to and bottom 2, 3 respectively, and side edges 4, 4 of shorter length than the top and bottom, but obviously all said edges could be of other lengths without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In folding this blank 1 into my improved building unit, one end third, as 5, of the blank is folded over upon the middlethird 6, making the crease or doubled edge 8 and then the other end third, as 7, is folded on top of the first-mentioned third 5, making the crease or doubled edge 9. Half of each of said folded thirds or panels 7 and 5, the half 10, or 11, of each next the free edge 4, is then folded back upon the other half 12, or 13, so that said edges 4 are superposed upon the creases or doubled edges 8 and 9, made by the first folds which divided the panels, and intermediate creases 14 are formed in the end panels. The blank then looks as I have shown in Fig. 2. Next, one of the folded halves 10, or 11, is returned to outspread position, so that panel is flat, and then its upper corners are folded inward, both said folds being on lines at 45o to the side edges of the blank and so as to bring the adjacent edges of the folded corners 15 and 16 contiguous, as shown in Fig. 3. It will be noted that the folded corner 15 neXt to the free edge 4 is single and the other corner 16 is double, and this folding having been done at both top and bottom, the panel is again doubled with its folded corn-ers inside, as shown in Fig. 4. The other panel is then similarly treated, so that the blank. assumes the appearance shown in Fig. 5. The tapered upper and lower ends are then folded toward each other upon lines 17 joining the lower ends of their sloping sides, and after that the unit can be opened as shown in Fig. 6 to assume the box form shown in Fig. 7.

The form of the unit shown in Fig. 5, with t-he addition ofthe end creases 17, 17, is the elemental form of my unit, which` may vbe l, having opposite long edges g opened yinto the box 18 shown in Fig. 7, or made to assume many other forms ,for dif-A ferent purposes. It: is itobe noted that the box 18 has a pocket 19 at each side of the box open to-ward the bottom thereof,said pocket being between the doubled together halves 12, or-11, 13,l of the end panels and 7 ofthe blank. AlsoipocketsQO are formed outside the ends of the box, likewise open-toward; the bottom,l as well as'siniilar pockets Zitat the inner sides of said ends, all said end pockets tapering from the depth of the box at theeolllers to no'depth atl allat the lcenter.0f-the upperedg'e of the vends of thefbox. Inv the elemental., form ofy the unit, theses'ame side-pockets 19 are in the opposite edges 0f the unit, andLwhen-,thetapered endsafre bent up, asbefore explained, the pockets 20Uwhieh are on the outside of the boxendsare in said bent-up ends, as will be more fully explainedhereinafter. It is by virtue of vthese plurality,'of-pockets about the entire circumference of my. building unit that saidunfitrlends itself to formingem'any andvyariedvarticles. `.Some of these articles areillustrated inthe drawings herewith, as for instance in Figs. 9 and Y10.1 havefshow'n my building unit*v utilized 'to construct a toy trainifor kindergarten fchldr'en. In doing "this the unitgis shaped into the boxform shown in'k Fig. 7 of proper:proportions'to easily receive ,an emptyymatch box 22' of the kindfin commo'n use forl holding what is called- Swedish matches, andwhi'ch match box Vgijves 'weightand solidity tothe car`23. A 'csmoke-stackjQli of yrolled paper can be pushedv down lthrough a hole in the top of the match box of one carto distinguish it as aloco'motivaand a semblance' of wheels can" be provided Qby slipping "suitably shaped pieces 25 of ca'rd boardinto ,the si'de pockets 1f9 ias "showni` inv Fig. 10. Furthermore, the

Vsuccessive cars may-be, coupled together by affolded bitl of, paper :26 havin'g each of its board.

leavesslipped into the outside-endl pockets 20,;ot'ianyf two adjacent cars,"as indicatedin Fig.` 1Q. 4In thismanner atrain `ofany lengthfmay be madefor orfby a small child veryfjrleadi-ly and r.easily without the usepof any paste or anycmaterial aside fromf the emptymatcl boxes, v w'hichare e' found in every` household) and bits of,V paper or card E1n Fig. 11,1- have shown the building unit utilized in, the construction ofa dolls bed, and in doing this the box form `shownin'- Fig.f7 is utilizedbut placed; the lother side upfrom what it is in ymaking the train cars just' described. ln'foldingthe boxQ/Z for this bed, a` littlepad 28k 0fr 'cotton batting or the." like is "preferably placed beneath the' middle third .or panel-ofthe blanlrbefore folding" preferably. amending. t0 the lines 17..:Qfffsubsequer1tfielding, end .beneath this pad sfrlased* a piece 2901i tissue peper or;

the like to serve as a sheet, said piece of tissue paper overlapping considerably all aroundlthe pad or mattress 28. Then when the blank is folded as usual into the box form, `the mattress and sheet are on top, as fshown in Fig. 11 and securel held by the edges of the sheet being folde into the box.

TA headboard 30 and a footboard 31 are then easily provideu by slipping little pieces of paper or card board into the outside .e

pockets 20 at the two ends of the box 27, as shown, and little pillows and other bed clothes can be addedas the fancy of the child dictates, although not shown in the drawings, as they form no part oi the invention. Preferably the boxf27 for the bed is made of suchv dimensions that an ordinaiy picture postal answers very nicely for the headboard 30 and half of such a postal for the cfootboard 31, such picturepostalsnsually being had or easily obtained by a child and addiugav pretty etl'ect to the toy.

In Fig. 13 I have shown the-'building unit used in forming a tent, and in doing this it is taken iat as shown in Fig. 5 and the` tapered ends 32 bent in the reverse ydirection from that to form a box as shown inFig. 12. Obviously these ends have the pockets 20 before referred to and which pockets are separated at their adjacent upright edges by the doubling of the panels along the lines 111. Picture lpostals 33, 33 aretlien slotted longitudinally` each in one end as at 34, and said bifurcated ends are inserted inthe pockets-20, lthe two postals meeting at the topV to form a simple tent as shown. Saidpostals are preferably tied together at their tops as at 35 although` it will be understood that a single strip of paper cOllld be 4used in place ofthe tivo' postals, correspondingly slit at its opposite ends and doubled at itsmiddle. Obviously .by'iolding the tapered ends 32 32 down'iiat upon therniddle-portion 0i?` the unit, instead :of leaving them at an angle thereto asin Fig. 13,y fthe-,ends of, a postal card 36 can be inserted, inthe opposite pockets Q0, 20 at4 one side of. the median line-0f; the unit, andthe endV ofanother postal card similarly inserted in theotherA pockets 20, 20 of the same unit, so-that a screenor fence in'ay be formed as shown vin Fig. 11, thesanie bendingreadily upon each ymedian line of a unit. Such a screen orl fencel may be formedk of any 4desired length and 1 have shown 'the ends` viinished by inserting a doubled halfl of a postal with one leaf' into the pockets 20, 2O and the other leaf into the side pocket 19, 4which may'be'donel as desired. 1f instead of foldingthe tapered ends 32, 32 flat uponthe body portion of the unit as in Fig.` 14, or leaving them atan acuteangle thereto as in Fig. 13, they, may be leftstanding at right anglesto Vsaid body portion, in which case two 'such units 37 may beplaced' with their main portions parallel and vertical and their tapered ends projecting toward each other as shown in Fig. l5, and postals 38 stood upright with their ends in the pockets 19 and other postals 39 similarly stood upright -with their ends in the pockets 20, 20 so as to form a square tower as shown. The upper ends of said postals 38, 38, 39, 39 may similarly engage with upper units 40, 40 arranged like the lower ones 37, 37 and thus the tower can be built to any height. If desired, the top of the tower can be squared by inserting into the end pockets 20, 20 of the top units, short pieces 41, of postals or the like which I have shown flush with the upper edges of the main portions of the top units 40. For still another use, to form a tunnel as shown in Fig. 16 the tapered ends 32, 32 of the unit may be bent one in each direction and then stood upright in pairs with the outwardly turned ends of each pair forming a base and the inwardly turned ends at the top. Then postals 411 can be inserted at their ends into the upright side pockets 19 of alined members of adjacent pairs, to form the sides of the tunnel, and other postals 42 can be inserted at their ends in the pockets 19, 19 of said adjacent pairs of units to form the roof of the tunnel.

It will be seen from the above description of various ways of using my building unit, that there is a great variety of such uses, and I do not wish to be understood as restricting myself to any of them, those which I have shown merely being illustrative of the others.

In addition to bending the building unit as vshown in Figs. l to 6 inclusive, into various forms upon these already creased lines of folding, the unit may be given additional creases or lines of folding, to extend its use' still further. For instance 20 inclusive I have shown the unit given additional creases or lilies of folding 43, 43 and 44, 44, and which are preferably made by collapsing the box shown in Fig. 7 transversely instead of longitudinally as it would naturally collapse. vWhen this has been done, and the creases made equally sharp and distinct with the others,'the unit Will open into a basket form, something as shown in Fig. 19 and may be closed flat either as shown in Fig. 20 or in the opposite direction. Further additional forms may be secured from my elemental unit by varying the distance between the various creases or changing the size of the panels 5, 6 and 7. For instance in Figs. 21, 22 and 23 I have shown a very wide middle panel 45 and comparativelynarrow end panels 46, 46 and when this is folded as described in connection with the elemental form shown in Figs. 1 to 6, a frame such as is shown in Figs. 22 and 23 is obtained having lateral pockets in Figs. 17 to l l l 47 47 beneath the folded panels 46, 46 into which the edges of a picture 48 can be slipped and held. If in folding this frame the top and bottom of the blank are folded backwardly upon lines 49, 49, before doin the other folding, no raw edges will be eX- posed and furthermore the two sides of the frame will be alike adapted to receive a picture. Still further, if creases or folds 50, 50 are made parallel to the last-mentioned lines of folding 49, 49, and at the same distance therefrom that said lines are from the margin, or at a distance from the top and bottom equal to the width of the panels 46 the marginal pocket portions of the frame can be erected toward the front thereof, or the unit opened into a square box form similar to Fig. 7 but much more flat and shallow so as to be more of a tray or cover.

In Figs. 24 and 27 inclusive, I have shown a blank 5l which has creases or lines of folding just like the elemental form shown in Figs. dle panel is twice the width of either of the end panels, then a crease or line of folding 52 is made longitudinally through the middle of the middle panel and a similar crease or line of folding 53 through the middle of one of the halves of said middle panel.

Greases 54, 54 extending from the intersection of last-mentioned crease 53 at 45 with the upper and lower transverse crease for bending over the ends of the unit to the extremities to the first-mentioned crease 52. Then after folding the unit like the elemental unit shown in Fig. 5, the middle panel is doubled upon itself on the line 52, the end panel upon the swinging end of the blank being allowed to fold backward upon the line 53 so as to stand at right angles to the other end panel with their intermediate creases or folds 55, 55 abutting as shown in Fig. 26. The top and bottom of the blank then fold upon the line 54 and other lines shown, into planes perpendicular to the said line of intersection of the edges 55, 55, and if the unit is thus folded and is set down into one shown in Fig. 9, in the position shown in Fig. 25, it forms a seat as will be obvious or if employed in the position shown in Fig. 26 it forms a step, series of which can be joined together to form a flight of stairs as shown in Fig. 27. Such joining is done by inserting a little square piece of paper or card board 56 into the outside end pocket-s 20, 20 vwhich are next to each other in two adjacent steps of the stairs. Preferably half steps 57, 58 are employed at the top and bottom of the flight of stairs to finish the ends thereof. It will be obvious that all the different articles which I have shown produced from my building unit are based upon one and the same elemental form, and that all of them can be collapsed'or flattened l claim is.

'1 l'if'l'he hereindescribed toy building unit,

coinprisingrasheet having a series of parallel creasesbylw-hicli panel portions may be" folded inward ronrtwo' opposite edges t of. the sheetrand doubled back each uponitself, 'said l'sheet also having between said parallel e'reasesoblique creases by which the o'uterfcornerslfof ea'c'h ofthe parts superposed by doubling thel panels may be folded in'between-'isaid superposd parts, and said shee'talsyhaving creases at right angles to the panel creases through the intersections of,l saidv panel 'icreases `with said oblique creases. l

Q ?LThe `hereindescribed toy building unit, conaprising@'a shee'thaving a plurality of ser'iesgotparallel creases by .which panel portionsm'ay' befoldedinward from two oppositeredg'e's fof the `sheet and `doubled 'back each :upon itself, the said series of creases being "separatedIso4V that'the innerv edges of the; doubled panels will be spaced from each other and expose a middle panel of the sheet between said -end panels, said sheet also having between. said parallel creases oblique creases bywhich the outer corners of each of the parts superposed by doubling the panels inay be folded in between said superposed parts, and said 'sheet also having creases fat right angles to the panel creases through the intersections of said panel creases with said oblique creases.

3. The hereindesoribed toy building unit, comprising a sheet having at opposite edges of itself parallel creases by which marginal portions can be folded inward, said sheet having at right angles to said creases a se ries ot' parallel creases by which panel portions niay be folded inward from the other two opposite edges of the sheet and doubled back each upon itself, said sheet also having betweensaid panel creases oblique creases by .which ythe outer corners of each of the parts superposed vby doubling -the panels inay be folded in between said superposed parts, and said sheet also having creases at right angles to the .panel creases through the intersections of said panel creases with said oblique creases.

MARIE EBERT.

fitnesses 'ARNOLD EBERT, HOWARD P. KING.

'ples ofA this patent nay be obtained forve 'cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, als v l 'Washington;1).C. 

